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SpaceX Reveals Its New Falcon Heavy Rocket

YouTube/SpaceXYesterday, SpaceX released an animated video of its new Falcon Heavy rocket that, if all goes according to plan, will eventually be able to launch a manned spacecraft into space and then touch back down on a landing pad.

The idea is to create reusable rockets that can safely return to Earth and land intact. But SpaceX is still in the testing phase of the new landing maneuver. On Jan. 10, SpaceX semi-successfully landed a Falcon 9 rocket on a platform in the ocean after the rocket launched the Dragon spacecraft full of cargo to the International Space Station.

The new Falcon Heavy rocket is made of three of these Rocket 9 boosters, and it's capable of lifting a payload of 53 metric tons — or about the equivalent of a 737 jetliner including passengers, crew, luggage and fuel. The rocket was designed from the get-go to ferry humans into space, and Musk hopes it will one day be used for manned missions to the moon or Mars. (The plan is for the manned spacecrafts, like the Dragon, to return to Earth using their own thrusters.)

The rocket has yet to undergo its first test launch, but SpaceX released an animated video of what the launch and landing could look like.

After the Falcon Heavy rocket launches, the boosters jettison from the main spacecraft:

Your browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/SpaceX

The rockets then reorient themselves and fly back towards Earth:

Your browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/SpaceX

The idea is for all three rockets to touch down safely so they can be reused in future spacecraft launches:

Your browser does not support the video tag. YouTube/SpaceX

The Heavy Rocket will take off from a launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida sometime this year. SpaceX is negotiating with NASA for another launch complex to use as the landing pad for the three rocket boosters.

The next test run of a single rocket is scheduled for Feb. 8, when SpaceX uses a Falcon 9 rocket to launch a space weather satellite into orbit.

Source: www.businessinsider.com

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